Purgatory
by Scarletborn
Summary: Caroline Forbes always thought that evil creatures and demons belonged to Hell. What she did not know was that vampires belonged to Purgatory. A place worse than hell where the only thing that mattered was survival. A place where enemies turned into allies and foes into friends. [Klaus/Caroline AU story set mostly in New Orleans]
1. Welcome to the land of the dead

**Purgatory: **_She always thought that evil creatures and demons belonged to hell. What she didn't know was that vampires belonged to Purgatory. A place worse than hell where the only thing that mattered was survival. A place where enemies turned into allies and foes into friends. Klaroline AU story set in New Orleans with Koroline friendship. _

_~Takes place one year after the finale of season 5 of the Vampire Diaries and the finale of season 1 of The Originals._

_~Loosely inspired by some elements from the plot of Supernatural's season 8._

* * *

Who holds the devil, let him hold him well, he hardly will be caught a second time.

Faust

* * *

She was breaking the speed limit as her foot pressed on the gas of the car she stole. Everything blurred in her eyes as the pain in her forearm increased. She moaned as heat erupted in her skin and she gritted her teeth as the veins in her hand throbbed. The light her arm was emitting was covered by the long sleeved shirt she had put on.

She woke up in a shallow grave, feeling her rotten skin slowly stitching itself back and connecting again with her dusty bones and she had to dig and claw herself out of the coffin and the dirt. When she finally breathed again she noticed that it was night and that she was alive. She was back.

She then returned back to Mystic Falls only to realize that it was useless. _He _was not there. She had entered the town's circle and she was slowly stripped of magic as the travelers spell still lingered and she thought she wouldn't make it in time and she would be once again exiled to damnation only to finally find out that his grave was empty. Klaus had taken him. She had run away from Mystic Falls and she got out just in time. She almost ended up back in hell.

However she managed to barely make it out of Mystic Falls. She should have guessed that Klaus would not have left him behind._ He_ had told her that he was buried in Mystic Falls but obviously Klaus at some point must have retrieved his body. Or so she hoped.

If she had to guess then she would bet that he would be where Klaus was and she hoped that Klaus would still be in New Orleans. She was running out of time and the pain was unbearable. She didn't even think of going anywhere near the people she loved. She didn't wait to see the people she cherished and had missed so dearly. Not like this. Not when she was not the same Caroline anymore.

She wanted to see her mom and she wanted to see Stefan but she couldn't. She had to finish what she started first and she had to come to terms with what had happened to her.

Her whole body was covered in sweat and she felt the dirty clothes sticking on her skin. She gripped the wheel as hard as she could and she felt it crack under the pressure she applied.

When she noticed the sign that welcomed her to New Orleans she tiredly smiled and scratched her left forearm.

Another wave of pain consumed her as she drove faster.

"Hold on…_darling_," she said with a smirk this time.

This was such a mess! She was literally carrying the weight of the world when she should be studying and living her life. She should be enjoying herself and she should not be so tired and in pain. However that was not her destiny.

Everything changed after Bonnie died and then all hell broke loose.

A hell that welcomed her and became her worst nightmare.

* * *

_**A year ago.**_

_**In a small town outside Mystic Falls.**_

_She didn't know why she had not returned to her college yet. All she knew was that Stefan and Elena needed her. _

_She needed them too. Bonnie had died and she could not return back to the dorm she shared with her. She could not return back to her normal life while her best friend didn't exist in this world anymore. _

_Stefan was mourning for his brother. Elena was mourning for her lover and somehow it felt as if she and Jeremy were the only ones mourning for Bonnie. However she didn't allow herself to show it. She smiled and stood strong next to Stefan and Elena. Tyler had run off and from what she knew he was trying to come to terms with being a werewolf once again. She only had her mom, Stefan and Elena now. However she was also taking some distance from her friends because they were both teaching Alaric how to be a vampire. Alaric was back and she didn't mean to but whenever she was seeing him memories of her father's death returned to her and she could not cope with that. Not now at least._

_She felt so alone and so empty. If she were to be honest what she wanted was to leave Mystic Falls behind her for good. To run away. To leave that place that seemed cursed and that sucked all the joy from everyone and everything that came anywhere near it. _

_She had overheard Elena talking to Stefan about how they could find a magic fix in order to make the town habitable for the supernatural again and she didn't get it. Why linger to a place that brought only pain when they could go anywhere in the world? When they could travel and enjoy all the world had to offer? _

_She sighed as she the words Rome, Paris and Tokyo appeared in her mind._

_Besides that they were all vampires. They could not age. Sooner or later people would start noticing that they didn't age and they remained physically the same._

_She then stopped walking and stood still. She looked around but there was no one there. She was living in a small town outside Mystic Falls. If anything the town was too small and too quiet. And yet she felt a sense of danger enveloping her._

_She continued walking and she took out her phone. She furrowed her brow. No signal. The light from the screen of the phone started flickering._

_She turned around again as she heard footsteps approaching but again there was nothing. She was ready to run away but as she turned a vervain grenade hit her face and she screamed and fell on the pavement. _

_Her face was blistered and it burned. She could barely open her eyes._

_When she opened them she hissed and her fangs dropped but the men around her sprayed her with vervain again and shot her with wooden bullets. Everything hurt so much that she howled in anguish. _

"_Why?" she whispered in pain._

"_You are not welcome here vampire!" a man spat at her and then she felt a sharp pain in her chest. _

_She looked down with wide eyes. One of the men that attacked her had pushed a wooden stake in her chest. In her heart._

_Tears fell from her eyes as he skin started turning gray and she could feel all her energy fading away. The inevitable was fast approaching._

_She dropped on the street feeling nothing. Death was claiming her and all she could think of was that she didn't want to die. Not like this. Not all alone. Not before her life would even start._

_Not without seeing the world first._

"_I'll take you, wherever you want…" was the memory and the last words that echoed in her mind and then… darkness._

* * *

**Present day. New Orleans.**

She stumbled into the first bar she saw. She held her arm tightly as she felt it itching under the long sleeve.

She was a mess and she could tell that everyone was looking at her. She knew that she was a gruesome sight and for the first time in her life she didn't care. She had stopped worrying about things like that. All it took was for her to die and her priorities definitely changed.

She felt her gums hurting and her fangs aching to come out but she could not drink even a drop of blood. Not before she would let go of her additional baggage.

She went to the bar and leaned over it.

"Can I help you with something?" the blond bartender asked as she eyed her with curiosity.

"I don't know… I am looking for someone, I…I..don't know where to find.. him," she whispered as she took the glass of water the girl gave her and gulped down in one go. She was so thirsty and she moaned as she tried to keep her eyes human looking. The glass broke in her hands and she stumbled back as the shards broke the skin of her palm.

The bartender tried to reach for her and to help her with her hand wound but Caroline just stepped back and almost growled. Even the smell of her own blood tempted her and all she could hear was the blood that was rushing inside the blond girl's veins. Her human heartbeat was drumming in her ears; a sound so alluring that almost made her jump the bar and attack the woman but she controlled her urges. Barely.

"Who are you looking for?" the woman asked as she stood still and eyed her suspiciously now.

"Klaus, Klaus Mikaelson," she said with a broken voice and she almost collapsed before two strong hands supported her.

She noticed a black man staring her back and she tried to move but she felt the world turning before she fainted into his arms.

Camille hurriedly got next to them and looked down at Marcel. People were looking at them so she kept her voice low.

"Is she a-"

"Vampire," Marcel whispered as he noticed the lapis lazuli ring the unconscious blond girl was wearing in her finger. She was dirty and filth was covering her whole. She looked too pale and he could not hear a normal heartbeat anymore which meant that she hadn't fed for a while.

"She said she was looking for Klaus," Camille said and Marcel picked the girl up.

* * *

Klaus was lost in his own world as he kept painting. It was not exactly him creating art as more or less him mixing colors and throwing some paint on the canvas. It was useless. He felt as if he could not draw anymore. His inspiration was gone. Everything he cared for was long gone.

She threw the palette away and it hit the wall and broke into wooden painted pieces.

What he wanted was a drink. A strong drink that would preferably be warm and crimson red. A drink that would struggle and would beg and would give him the thrill he so desperately craved. Anything to dull his senses and to quiet the voices in his head even for a little while.

His ears perked up when he heard Camille's voice. She was yelling for him to come down. And then he heard his progeny calling for him too.

He wiped the paint of his hands with a cloth and stepped out of his art room with a bored and a somewhat irritated expression.

He was not in the mood for any games today and he really didn't appreciate Marcel and Camille coming to his own house and yelling as if they owned the damn place.

"What's with the shouting children?" he mocked as he approached the railing but then he stood still and gripped the wood as he saw Marcel carrying a girl in his arms.

His eyes widened when he noticed that it was not just a girl.

It was…_Caroline_.

Before anyone could blink Klaus had run down the stairs in supernatural speed and materialized in front of Marcel as Elijah got out of his room and stood in the balcony watching the scene unfolding in front of him with curious eyes.

"Impossible," Klaus whispered with a gulp. He reached for Caroline's hair but he froze before he could touch her. He was afraid that if he would touch her she would dissolve into nothingness. Nothing more than a ghost that came back to haunt him and disappear into thin air again.

This couldn't be. She was dead. She had died a year ago. How was this even possible?

"She was asking for you," Camille said and everyone noticed how Klaus's eyes never averted from the unconscious girl in Marcel hands.

"Do you know her?" Marcel asked as Klaus took Caroline from his arms with a tenderness he had never seen in his maker before.

Klaus didn't answer them. He walked further into the house and put Caroline to one of sofas in the lounge.

He stood still and watched her in silence as Elijah followed him and looked at the girl equally surprised.

"What is going on Niklaus?" he asked him but Klaus had only eyes for Caroline. He didn't speak. He just looked at her.

"Klaus what is going on?" Camille asked and she tried to go near him but Marcel held her hand and prevented her from doing so.

"Get out!" Klaus growled, "both of you! Get out now!" he ordered them with a rough voice and Elijah nodded to Camille silently telling her to do exactly what Klaus said.

When Marcel and Camille left Klaus kneeled next to Caroline and Elijah slowly approached him.

"I was under the impression Miss Forbes was dead," the older Original simply said.

"She was," Klaus mumbled and even stopped breathing and moving all together when Caroline's eyes slowly fluttered open as a moan escaped her mouth.

"_Caroline?" _

She looked at him and she breathed out relieved.

"I need to find him," she whispered with a broken voice.

"Find who sweetheart?" Klaus asked as he tenderly took hold of her hand.

"Kol"

* * *

_**A year ago**_

_She slowly opened her eyes and she grunted in pain. She could feel her whole body aching. Her bones cracking and her skin almost melting. The temperature felt both scorching hot and ice cold at once._

_She tried to stand up but she fell many times before she could finally fight against the gravity that pulled her down._

_She looked around scared. There was no light. Only shadows dueled. Where was she?_

_Was she alive?_

_No she wasn't. She could tell that much._

_Well dying really sucked! she thought as she looked around scared. What was this place? She knew that the other side had collapsed and didn't exist anymore. So… where was she?_

_Tears gathered in her eyes as she remembered the stake piercing her skin. With a trembling hand she touched her chest and she could not feel a heartbeat anymore._

_It was true. There was no going back anymore. This had really happened._

_"I am dead," she whispered horrified and looked around in panic. This place had no sun, nor a sky. Above her only a gaping hole existed. One that she could only describe as chaos. There was no light or absolute darkness. There were gray shades and shadows all around._

_Rocks, mountains and trees were all around her in shapes grim colors she had never seen before or she could describe in any way._

_And what was worse was that it felt as if something was lurking in the shadows._

_She heard a noise as if something was crawling closer and before she could take a step back one of the shadows attacked her and tackled her to the ground._

_Only it was not a shadow. It was a man that had sharp teeth. Teeth she had never seen before. They were not fangs they looked like scissors. He tried to bite her head off and she tried to fight him but he was too strong and his jaws kept rabidly opening and closing inches away from her neck._

_She screamed and fought and she kicked him and tried to scratch him as her own fangs descended and she hissed and growled but that man was so much stronger that she felt her bones shuttering as they rolled over to the dirt. His movements were frantic and wild._

_Just as he was about to deliver his final blow in a frenzy and rip her neck with his teeth she felt his weight getting lifted and pushed away from her._

_She got up with trembling legs and noticed that a man had shoved her attacker to a tree and then cut off head with a machete. Blood splattered everywhere but it was not red. It was black._

_The man that saved her turned around slowly and her eyes grew bigger as her "savior" smirked back at her._

_"Kol," she muttered startled and took a step back._

_"Welcome to the land of the dead darling," Kol Mikaelson said with a wide smile._


	2. Trust Fall

**A/N:** A huge thank you to everyone that read, reviewed and put this story to their favorites and their alerts!

* * *

"I don't think that we're meant to understand it all the time. I think that sometimes we just have to have faith."

Nicholas Sparks, _A Walk to Remember_

* * *

They say that pain should be a feeling welcomed because it shows you that you are alive. Well if that was the case then Caroline was sure to be more alive than ever as pain seemed to be a constant companion of hers ever since she dug herself out of her grave.

Especially now that it seemed as if that everlasting intensifying pain had evaded even the last cell of her body.

She groaned and sat up on the couch feeling lost, disoriented and weak. She looked at the blue eyes that stared at her with amazement and concern and she blinked as she took in Klaus's scent. A scent so familiar that made her lips curl to a resemblance of a smile.

She then realized that Klaus held her hand and she grimaced before she could control herself. This resembled the nearest thing to a "human" contact and it seemed as if she had forgotten how that actually felt like. It was an alien emotion to her now. Unfamiliar and strange and so weird that it nearly made her actually feel alive again. _Alive-ish_ anyway.

Unfortunately Klaus noticed her expression and must have misjudged it because his tender look turned hostile and he immediately stood up and took a step back.

His eyes scrutinized her and his gaze changed. It turned hard and suspicious.

"Who are you?" he asked squinting his eyes at her.

Caroline looked at him confused and breathed in before she picked herself up with trembling legs. She also noticed the skepticism that was clearly pictured in Elijah's face.

"It's me Klaus," she affirmed with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Before she could even blink Klaus had grabbed her by the neck and held her into a choking grip. Her feet barely touched the ground.

"Caroline died a year ago!" he growled at her as he gripped her neck harder.

Caroline wasn't even fazed by his reaction but instead she raised her hand and her palm cupped his cheek as she looked at him intently.

Klaus immediately let her go as if her touch was made of fire.

"It _is_ _**me**_ Klaus," she insisted.

Klaus took a step back shaking his head. Uncertainty had settled in his eyes and it wasn't going away. He didn't trust her.

"If this is another trick from the witches I swear I'll-"

"Brother it would be best if we would first hear…_Miss Forbes_ out," Elijah intervened placing his hand on Klaus's shoulder.

Caroline nodded and casted a fading smile at Klaus before she seriously looked at Elijah again.

"You mention my brother Kol," Elijah reminded her and she nodded yet again.

"I need to find him," she urgently said and touched her forearm.

"He is dead sweetheart and if you were really Caroline you should have known," Klaus argued with an angry tone that implied that if she was not going to convince him of her real identity anytime soon he would attack her again and this time he would not show any mercy.

Caroline growled and then she huffed and stomped her foot.

She pointed an angry finger to Klaus and he looked surprised at her audacity.

But seriously! She was never afraid of him and she would certainly not start now!

"Do you know what? I have had enough! I have died which fyi let me tell you that it really sucked! I have been literally to hell and back and look at me! Just look at me!" she spat at Klaus hysterically. "I am looking like a gross homeless mess! I am exhausted, starving and running out of time so I am done with you being an ass with me because you have trust issues! It is me! And I do not care what you think or feel about me being here but I've had it!" she yelled at him and Klaus looked stunned for a moment before his eyes turned amber.

However Caroline didn't retreat or even showed any sign of fear. She looked more as if she was annoyed with Klaus than being actually afraid of him.

Elijah went between them and looked at Caroline with a pensive look.

"Miss Caroline, if I may?" he politely asked her.

Caroline took a deep breath but didn't avert her eyes from Klaus' for some moments before she turned her gaze to Elijah.

"It's just Caroline," she boldly dismissed and Elijah nodded with a small smile.

"Caroline then," he said and Klaus huffed and went to get a drink.

Caroline rolled her eyes at Klaus's antics and she crossed her hands in front of her chest defensively and looked at Elijah again. The pain in her arm was increasing. She didn't have time for this.

"You have to excuse out mistrust but to our knowledge Miss Forbes has been dead for a little less than a year now and suddenly you appear out of nowhere in our home," Elijah diplomatically said.

He failed to inform Caroline how Klaus had lost control over her death. How it rained blood in the streets of New Orleans for days and nights after he had learned about the girl's death. How people thought that he was avenging the supposedly death of his daughter when in reality he was creating havoc in Caroline's memory.

"_A year?_ Somehow it seemed more to me," Caroline whispered cynically mostly to herself before she turned her attention back to the older Original.

"Well I am from Mystic Falls and you should know by now that no one stays dead for long there. So here I am," she said half seriously half mocking.

"How convenient," Klaus's irony reached her ears before she threw at him a defiant glare.

"To our knowledge the other side has dissolved," Elijah told her and Caroline sighed.

"It has," she said and her eyes became haunted with memories.

* * *

_**A year ago.**_

_Caroline looked around her feeling terrified but she managed to keep her attention to the figure that was walking in front of her._

_Kol was leading her further inside the dark woods and she didn't know why but she was chasing after him._

_She stumbled at some rocks and looked around to notice with panic that red eyes lurked in the shadows and followed her every step._

_She ran closer to Kol while he kept walking fast in front of her. She could barely match his strides._

_She grabbed him by his upper arm and tried to stop him._

"_Wait!" she breathlessly pled with him while frantically looking all around. She inhaled as she saw the black blood that stained the blade he was holding._

"_If you want to live baby vampire I suggest you keep up," Kol simply said as he wrenched his arm away from her reach and kept walking._

_She noticed that he jumped over a small cliff and then he sped up and she ran after him. She could barely follow him now. He seemed more like a blur and she could focus more on the shine of the blade he was carrying than his own blurry shadow._

"_Will you please wait?" she breathlessly yelled at him as she looked up to the gaping hole that covered the absence of the sky._

"_No."_

_Caroline gritted her teeth and stopped._

"_Fine then go ahead," she whispered and stood her ground as she fearfully looked around at the darkness._

_To her surprise Kol actually stopped and turned around. He was now looking at her with dark eyes full of warning._

_Caroline smiled smugly at that and took a step forward. _

"_You saved me back then and as sure as hell you didn't do it out of the goodness of your heart. So I won't go anywhere with you before I get some answers," she defiantly declared and cringed as the smirk that appeared in his face. _

_It wasn't the same one his brother had when he was teasing her. Klaus was cocky and smug and dangerous but Kol seemed different. His expression sent chills down her spine._

_Kol was standing still as if he was an ice statue now. He looked around and then back at her._

_She tried to cover her fear and she tried to find comfort at the fact that at least he took the bait and he didn't leave her alone here to rot. She didn't know if what she was saying was true and if he had another purpose for helping her but she was risking it. _

_She had nothing to lose anyway. She was already dead. However she didn't want to know what would happen if someone would get her in this place. _

"_Where am I? What is this place?" She broke the silence and their gaze challenge._

"_Not heaven that's for sure," Kol replied with a bigger smirk._

"_I've noticed, so what? This is Hell?" she angrily asked._

_Kol looked at her with a big smile and raised an eyebrow at her. _

_He brought his blade in front of him and examined the blood on the surface as if he was intoxicated by the sight._

"_More like Hell for monsters," he said and prowled towards her._

_Caroline gulped and kept her eyes on the blade. When Kol came to stand in front of her she raised her gaze to his._

"_You see darling humans go to heaven or hell or whatever else those places are called and eventually their souls move on. However we are not human so after the other side crumbled we were send where we belong," he told her with a low mocking voice._

_Caroline looked at him still confused and still afraid but something in the way he moved seemed almost hypnotic._

"_Our personal private monster hell. Or else… Purgatory," he whispered and raised his blade._

_She screamed in terror as his blade cut through the air and blood covered her whole._

* * *

Caroline's eyes turned dark as she looked at Elijah with no fear. She looked at Klaus but he had turned his back on her.

"When the other side fell everyone moved on. The thing is that vampires have a _special _place they get to go when they die and as much as I would like to give you all the gory details about the afterlife I do not have any time!" she yelled but Elijah didn't even blink.

Caroline bit her lip and stared at him with blazing eyes.

"So this is it? You are going to let your brother down again?" she challenged them as Kol's words echoed in her mind and she noticed with satisfaction Elijah's perfect armor cracking and him looking at her with something akin to guilt. Even if it was for a split second it was there.

However it was not Elijah's reaction that almost made her wince.

Klaus furiously turned around and threw his glass to the wall behind her with in rage. Shards of glass and splashes of alcohol rained down on her.

"Dare to say this again!" Klaus roared and Elijah sped in front of her to protect her but Caroline just moved passed him and she steeled herself.

"_Are __**you **__going to let you brother down __**again**__?_" Caroline provoked Klaus again showing him that she wasn't afraid of him and before she could even comprehend what was happening Klaus was snarling in her face and he was gripping her shoulders so hard that her bones almost cracked. His fangs had descended and he was ready to bite her head off.

Her gaze also changed. All her instincts went to overdrive and her body took charge.

She ignored the pain and slid her arms underneath his elbows and pulled them up so she could get hold of the back of his neck and break his own hold on her shoulders.

In less than seconds she had found the right opening and pushed her feet behind his and she rotated her whole body and used her hands and her back to support herself against him as she threw her whole body weight against him in order to make him lose his balance. The hold on his neck gave her the opportunity to manipulate and swift his own body at her will. All her movements were calculated and planned out. She did everything so fast that her opponent could not even predict that he would find himself flying in the air before he could even process what she was doing.

Before Klaus could even react Caroline had thrown him to the other side of the room without even blinking.

Elijah raised his eyebrow as Klaus landed over the carpet with a thud. A young starving vampire getting the upper hand in a fight with an Original was not something someone could easily witness. How much more when the Original in question was Klaus.

Caroline still kept her fighting stance and was on defensive mode as the veins underneath her eyes erratically danced.

Klaus on the other hand looked at Caroline startled from the floor with wide eyes.

Caroline simply shook her head and willed her fangs to disappear. It was so hard though. Her hunger was so demanding that she had to use all her control in order to restraint herself.

She turned her gaze back to Elijah and rolled her sleeve over. She showed her arm to them and noticed that Elijah immediately moved closer to her.

Klaus tried to pick himself up as he looked at the glowing skin of her arm speechless.

"This is Kol's soul," she said and didn't pay any attention to their gasps.

She completely ignored their shocked faces and extended her hand more so they could take a better look at it.

Underneath the skin of her forearm a bright golden light was glowing. The veins of her arm looked like rivulets and tree branches made out of sparkling lava. Her whole flesh was throbbing and moving and the light was looking bright for some moments before it seemed to tone down only to flash brighter again.

Klaus stood up and looked at her hand and then at her face in awe. His face turned back to human immediately.

"I can't hold on to him for much longer. I have to get his soul back to his body. And I need to do it now. You have him, you must have him, I know you do. At first I thought he was in Mystic Falls but I am sure that one of you took him from there," she rumbled.

She looked at Elijah pleadingly.

"Please you need to take me to him. I can bring him back but I need to get to his body now!" she basically begged them but their silence was enough to make her feel as if she was suffocating.

Their mistrust was still there but she had to make them realized what was at stake here. Time was literally running out.

Caroline sighed and went closer to Klaus.

"I don't have much time, I know you don't trust me and maybe you are right not to but _maybe_ it is time for you to take a _chance_," she challenged him as she approached him with certain steps.

"_I dare you_," she said with a weak smile and she heard his breath hitch.

She stood right in front of him taking a deep breath.

"I know how all these must sound to you and I know that I do not look like myself; I must look like hell which actually is quite ironic because this is exactly where I have been for a very long time but I am here now. I will explain everything to you but right now I have to get to Kol's body. The more his soul stays inside me the more he drains me and I am not an Original. My body cannot handle this and no body can carry two souls. The only reason I haven't broken down yet is that I am a vampire but even like this, this is too much. It is literally tearing my apart and I could end up dead all over again and everything would have been for nothing," she told Klaus; her voice conveying all the pent up emotion she was holding in and she took a deep breath as Klaus's hand gently took her arm in his own hand and examined it closely.

"Please Klaus, I know you, you care for your family…for Kol… and you care for me… or at least you used to; please…_please_ help me…just this once I need you to trust me" she said with a voice that revealed her own emotional vulnerability.

Klaus's intent gaze moved from her hand and locked with hers. His need and his hope were rolling out of him in waves. She could tell that he was craving for this to be true.

Caroline invaded his personal space and he stood absolutely still.

"Look at my eyes and tell me that is not me you are looking at," she asked him with a demanding voice as her fingers wrapped around his hand.

Her touch gave such warmth to him that without understanding it he firmly held her hand in his own.

Klaus looked at her bright eyes now. Something was not the same but underneath all this fatigue and all that pain he could still see _her_. This could not be a trick. No spell in the world would ever replicate Caroline's genuine look. Those were still her eyes. Defiant, challenging and full of the same bright scorching light that had turned his whole world upside down.

She was still in there. Inside those depths that seemed somewhat darker Caroline was there.

He could feel his heart pounding in relief and elation.

She was here, she was alive. He didn't know how but he could tell that this was real. His Caroline was back. He had her in his arms.

"_Caroline…"_

Elijah looked at the scene in front of him speechless. He raised his hand warningly towards Klaus but let it fall because it was obvious that Klaus would not react to anything he would tell him now.

He didn't like what he was seeing. It only took a few minutes and his brother was completely enthralled and captivated by this girl while they could not be certain if she was honest with them at all. He wanted her to be truthful and to get their brother back but she was not family. She could not be trusted and especially not now while all their enemies plotted against them.

Not to mention that this girl had also managed to momentarily take down Klaus.

And yet Klaus seemed to be putting down his walls in front of her in a way he had never seen before. He could not really believe that only in a few minutes this girl could penetrate his brother's impenetrable to all others –including him– defenses. He was amazed to see it but also afraid of the repercussions in case this was one more plot against them orchestrated from the witches or from any other enemy they had.

"Brother-" Elijah tried to reach Klaus but his voice fell to deaf ears since Klaus's eyes could only see the green shade he had missed so much.

"Please Klaus," Caroline's frantic voice echoed around the Originals as she reached for Klaus and gripped his hands pleading him with her eyes.

How could he not see her? How could he be so blind? In Mystic Falls his eyes seemed to see right through her and she was always afraid of the way he looked at her. It was as if he could reach down her soul sometimes. It was so intense and eerie and she always felt as if Klaus could look at her and translate all the forbidden desire her eyes held for him.

How could he not recognize her now? How could he not trust what he was seeing? Had she changed so much?

The pain she was trying to ignore came back with a vengeance and she let go of Klaus's hands and she would definitely fall if it wasn't for Klaus immediately reaching out for her and holding her waist.

He supported her and she inhaled deeply when she realized that he now looked at her with the same look as before. As if time hadn't passed them by and as if they were back in her graduation.

He was still somewhat guarded but she could see that he was looking at her with the same gaze he used back in Mystic Falls. The one that always made the world stand still and furiously spin all at the same time.

"I have him in a spelled crypt underneath the compound," he gently told her and she looked at him with hope.

"Take me to him please," she urgently asked him again but this time she felt safe in the knowledge that Klaus seemed more willing to trust her.

"We need to witch to take down the spell," he told her.

"And to assure us that you are who you claim to be," Elijah intervened and Klaus looked at her again with piercing eyes.

"Fine, but we need to hurry, we don't have much time," she grunted as she felt her eyes closing and she rested her head on Klaus's chest.

"_I… don't have time,_" she weakly muttered in a broken whisper as she felt the world spinning around her and involuntarily nestled her body more into Klaus's embrace.

"Bring a witch here NOW!" Klaus snarled to Elijah as he picked Caroline to his hands and sped towards the crypt.


	3. Resurrection

Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

* * *

_**One year ago. Purgatory.**_

_She stood still bathed in the black blood of the monster that Kol had just slain. The blood was not warm like it would be in earth but it was frozen and it was making her tremble even more. Out of the fear or the coldness she did not know._

_She swept some of the blood out of her face as more of it dropped from her sticky hair. _

_She hadn't even heard that thing approaching but obviously Kol had and he cut through it in the air just as it was about to jump to get her._

_She looked at the mangled body on her ground feeling lost and out of place._

_Kol's voice snapped her out of her frozen state._

"_What? No gratitude? No thanks for saving your life? Your generation has a weird taste in music and despicable manners darling."_

_Caroline pressed her lips and looked at him feeling her anger rising._

"_Why are you helping me?" she demanded with anger._

_Kol smirked and lowered his blade._

"_Awfully strange way to be grateful…friend."_

"_We are not friends!" she snapped at him and felt the winds rising and her voice echoing all around the dark forests possibly alerting more monsters to come and get her._

"_Well from what I had seen you were friends with my brother so why not extend your given grace?" Kol mocked her and she opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out. _

_Klaus's memories had nothing to do with this! Damn that Original Hybrid one way or another he seemed to be everywhere. She could not get rid of him even in death._

_Right now she was so angry, confused and oh yeah she was dead!_

_Freaking dead! And trapped in Purgatory with a Mikaelson!_

_She was ready to tell Kol to go to her hell when his gaze changed. It became serious._

"_If I were you darling I would be nicer to me," Kol warned her._

"_Well it is a good thing I am not you!" she defiantly spat and Kol laughed at that._

"_I'll say. You wouldn't be able to last here a day on your own so you most definitely are nothing like me," he commented and Caroline wrapped her hands around her torso refusing to give him the satisfaction of admitting he was right. So far, in the span of minutes, he had saved her more than once. If it wasn't for him she would have probably died here too._

_And then what? What would happen if she were to die in Purgatory? She cringed only at the thought. Would she be sent to oblivion or to a place worse even than this one? If there was anything worse that is._

_Kol shook his head and tried to approach her but she took a step back. He had saved her yes but she didn't trust him._

"_I've got something you need Caroline."_

"_Yeah? What's that?" she doubted him ironically._

"_A way out," he revealed to her and her eyes widened._

"_But for that to happen we need to survive this place and let me tell you sweet Caroline you ain't going to manage that without me," he taunted her with his smirk and she wanted nothing more than to wipe it out of his face with her fist._

_He turned around and started walking further into the woods again._

"_So darling? Are you coming or not?" he asked her without stopping or turning to look at her._

_She looked around, inspecting the darkness with fear and despite her better judgement she followed Kol._

_Better with the devil you know. Kind of anyway._

* * *

_**Present day. New Orleans.**_

Elijah Mikaelson straightened his jacket as he entered the gates of the Lafayette cemetery.

To his knowledge the majority of the witches inside New Orleans were in hiding. Most of them out of fear since anyone associated with magic could fall victim of his family's wrath.

No one knew Hope had survived and that had to remain a secret. And for that to happen retribution was in order.

Vengeance that targeted anyone that opposed them. Revenge against the guerrera werewolves his brother savagely dispatched days after Rebekah's departure and also against the covens of the French Quarter that Hayley under Klaus's wing seemed determined to eradicate.

Not a wise move but it appeared as if Hayley did not respond to reason any more. Unfortunately Klaus seemed to fuel her erratic sentiments constantly.

It was an open war that culminated after Miss Forbes's death. Klaus lost every sense of logic and mercy when he learned of that girl's demise.

He had to admit that he was extremely surprised. Seeing his brother mourning and acting that way for a girl he barely knew was a revelation to him. It was as if Klaus truly cared for that blond vampire from Mystic Falls. He acted as if he had lost a member of their family.

How could he have missed this? How could he not have known how deep his brother's interest for that girl had been?

Maybe Caroline Forbes was closer to his brother's heart than anyone could ever suspect.

Maybe she was the proof that Klaus still had a heart. Albeit a twisted one but nonetheless a heart that still cared.

...

_**A year ago.**_

_Hayley was silently sitting on the wooden chair. She was holding one of her daughter's unused pacifiers, her eyes eerie dry and vacant of any emotion. Elijah silently watched her from the door of the nursery when once more screams reached his ears._

_He sighed. Having Hayley living under the same roof with them under these circumstances was not the best thing for her. She had to adjust to her new found vampirism but she had to learn control and to find the will to resist her savage urges. However Niklaus was making it impossible for her to do so._

_Not when he was acting like a wild beast that provoked the worst in others. Especially to Hayley that seemed to succumb to her rage and her bloodlust more and more every day._

_His brother was bringing his victims to their home now and Hayley was always present. He was brutal and he would torture those unfortunate souls for hours to come thus tempting the mother of his child to join him into this madness since she could not resist._

_Klaus would stand next to her spent and indifferent allowing her to lose herself and rip their victims apart._

_Their house had turned into a ghostly place full of blood and pain. He had to put a stop to it but how?_

_The girl he cared for had almost disappeared and his brother not only allowed it to happen but he was despicably evoking that change in her._

"_It is all for her," Hayley whispered, this time not leaving her daughter's room in order to join his brother to his blood feast._

"_I feel the need to apologize for my brother's vile behavior. This is not an excuse but Klaus misses your daughter as much as you do Hayley," he said, uncertainty lacing his words as more screams echoed around them. _

_He knew his brother. This kind of rage was not ignited by his daughter's absence. Hope was safe with Rebekah. Klaus missed her and was angry for not having her with him but deep down he was relieved that they had managed to keep the baby safe even under those conditions. And soon they would bring her back. Once they had taken complete control of the city again._

_The insanity in which his brother dueled lately had to have other roots._

"_Klaus is not grieving for our baby. He is grieving for…her," Hayley mumbled, her gaze lost in space._

"_Her?"_

"_For Caroline, everything he does, it is all for her."_

_Elijah turned his head to the side._

_Caroline?_

_Who was she? And why was she so important to his brother?_

...

Obviously Caroline meant a lot to Klaus.

And now she was back. It was impossible but she had reappeared and it looked like as if time hadn't changed Klaus' feelings towards her. She was still having a hold over his brother and that could be either a blessing or a curse.

But was it truly her? He had to find out the truth and most of all he had to know how Kol was involved in all of that.

This could still be a trick from the witches and unfortunately he needed a witch to help him solve the mystery.

With most of them in the run it was not an easy task. It would be impossible but it actually wasn't since some of them still practiced their magic in the open.

He was currently informed that a certain witch was inside the cemetery right now. One that he had to find and make sure she would help him with Miss Forbes' case.

He sauntered through the tombs and with silent steps he reached one of the old marble wall vaults.

A woman was crouching in front of the vault and with a wooden thin stick she was writing down to the earth Latin and French letters mixed with rosewater and salt.

He remembered some of these symbols from his mother's grimoire. It appeared to be an incantation. A blessing to the dead, a call for the spirit's protection.

To his knowledge the other side had dissolved but the spirit world obviously expanded beyond the borders of the other side. It was a new world blended with old magic. Magic that preexisted his mother's knowledge and had roots thousands of years before even his own kind was created. And yet these symbols seemed familiar to him.

"How could I be of use?" the woman asked without turning to look at him.

Her accent had a slight French color however he could also recognize some Nordic cadences in her voice. It was weird but her scent also reminded him an old orchard full of wildflowers in bloom he had once upon a time, many centuries ago, visited in Norway when he was searching about his family's European lineage.

"_Bluebellsfongen_," he whispered with nostalgia, for a moment lost in memory as the scent of those flowers wrapped around him and brought back memories from his childhood. His mother and Ayanna used to grow tall bluebells in their village. Esther used to pin some of their purple petals to Rebekah's braids when she was a child.

The woman with the long curly strawberry blond hair smiled and stood up, her movement bringing him back to the present. She threw some incense and some blue petals to the ground and smiled.

"The flowers of the witches they say and of everlasting love," she lamented and then her eyes filled with mischief, "also called as the Dead man's bells," she said with a low voice, her green eyes a piercing gaze that weirdly brought chills down his spine.

"Excuse my interruption, I am-"

"Elijah Mikaelson," she interrupted him, "the older undead son of the Originals," she said and behind her smoke from the depths of the letters she had written to the ground started rising.

Elijah looked at her silently, his eyes inspecting her. There was something unsettling about this woman.

"Everyone in New Orleans knows who you are," she said and with a wave of her hand the smoke behind her dissolved into thin air.

"And yet here you are practicing magic in the open," Elijah observed.

After what happened with Hope's birth most witches in the city had taken refuge inside their secret covens. They were afraid of his brother's wrath and of Hayley's impulses.

A year has passed and the same pattern seemed to be repeating. He always felt as if the real war was about to begin but for now New Orleans's warfare had reached a dead end. Klaus' brutality seemed to be feared and yet something didn't quite add up. They had gained some control back but as it seemed it wasn't enough. It was never enough. A year now and New Orleans was still not a safe place for his niece to return. Something was stirring in the darkness. He could feel it.

"I am a servant of nature. I am meant to practice my magic in the open. In the wind and in earth's soil," she simply said and turned her back to him and looked at the vault in front of her emotionlessly.

"My ancestors never harmed anyone. However when your family's protégé forbade magic during his reign they suffered the most. Then you came along once again," she said with a cold voice and with the back of her palm she swept the dust from the marble tombstone.

The golden letters that spelled her family's name shining in the afternoon light.

"You dethroned Marcel and allowed our kind to practice out craft openly again even if it was a passing occurrence and I for one refuse to duel in the shadows once more," she declared with an unwavering tone.

"Besides if you wanted me dead I would already be missing a heart would I not?" she provoked him with an enigmatic smile.

He was intrigued by her courageous stance and looked at the vault behind her.

It belonged to the Julien coven. One of the oldest blessed with magic families of New Orleans. And one of the most dangerous ones.

Their ancestral magic was binding them to New Orleans and yet some centuries ago some of them abandoned New Orleans and reproduced descendants with witches that lived outside the city's borders thus also creating a magic lineage outside New Orleans. It was not as pure as of those that remained inside the city but their new kin definitely held great importance and once those relatives of theirs would find their way into New Orleans their Julien blood multiplied their existing powers since they would also tab into their ancestral magic.

"My brother might not be that merciful… _Miss_?" Elijah warned her as he asked her name with a strict tone.

"Synnove Julien, and since I was married once it is Mrs.," she introduced herself to him without showing any signs of fear.

Elijah eyed her carefully. She looked quite young in order to have a long past behind her.

"_Mrs._ Synnove, I am afraid I am in an urgent need of your assistance," he told her making sure that his tone conveyed the fact that he was not simply asking but ordering her to help him.

The red headed witch nodded and looked at him seriously.

"Do I have your word that I will be allowed to practice my magic without any repercussions from now an on?" she bargained with him.

"If you help us tonight you will be free to use magic on your own accord, but not the same can be said for your coven until they come out of hiding and come to pay their respects and allegiance to my family," Elijah relented with a stern diplomatic voice.

Coldness filled Synnove's gaze but she nodded and gathered her purse from the ground.

"Indeed under the circumstances both of our families' interests are more inclined for an alliance than war," she said and approached him, "however most of the times you can't have peace without war ensuring it," she enigmatically warned and smiled at him, "your urgent need awaits Elijah Mikaelson, so I would suggest you lead the way," she said and started walking next to him.

* * *

Klaus had taken her to the crypt and he remained silent. He now leaned on the stone wall and watched Caroline from afar.

They could not enter any further because of the magical barrier that blocked their entrance.

After he consecrated Esther's bones he was the one that made Genevieve cast the barrier spell last year. He didn't want anyone to have access to the corpses of the Originals. They could even be used for certain rituals with unforeseen consequences.

Genevieve however had managed to rise a barrier that ensured that no one would be able to enter to the mausoleum he had created for his dead siblings and Mikael. Not even him.

Originally he hadn't complained because he wanted to keep Genevieve by his side and thought that he could always find another witch to break the spell if he needed to but obviously that had been a grave mistake.

Unfortunately it was not an easy thing to break that spell and with Genevieve dead and the witches running scared all over New Orleans he hadn't found the opportunity to find a trustworthy capable witch to take down the barrier or at least manipulate it in order for him to have access to the coffins.

Caroline was sitting on the dirty ground, her back resting on a wooden frame, her messy hair falling on her face.

Her eyes were shut and her breathing heavy. Her arm was glowing; the more it was pulsating the more she seemed to be in pain. She seemed to be almost unconscious.

She was so different from what he remembered. She was covered in dirt and she looked…broken.

Deep down he knew that this was his Caroline. He did not know how but he could feel it. He did not want to admit that he had placed his trust to that girl but to his instincts.

And yet at the same time he could see that the woman in front of him was not the Caroline he once knew.

Caroline brought her arm to her bosom and her other hand covered the glowing part and clutched it tightly as she groaned.

He took a step forward, the need to help her all consuming but he stopped in his tracks.

If this was one more tricks from the witches, if they dared to give him hope only to have it snatched away from him later he would tear the world apart. Having Caroline taken from him was a great suffering but having her returned to him only to lose her again would be one of the worst torments someone could inflict on him. And he would show no mercy.

Caroline threw her head back and without opening her eyes she sighed.

"When you were younger you taught Kol how to braid Rebekah's hair. You used the mane of your horse to teach him so he could surprise your sister at her birthday," she whispered and Klaus's breath hitched.

She slowly opened her eyes and their gazes locked. He gasped at what he saw in her eyes. Understanding, pain and familiarity.

No one knew about what she had just said. It was a secret he had with Kol from when they were kids.

His whole body shook and his voice broke.

"How-"

Caroline smiled and that rendered him speechless.

He looked at her and her smile grew bigger. A smile that brought warmth to his heart as memories started resurfacing.

"I believe his exact words were…"

...

_**Purgatory**_

"_Bekah always wanted to be pampered and in the end I really regretted learning how to braid her hair because after that she was a pain in the ass and kept annoying me to fix her damn hair every bloody morning and Nik coincidentally was nowhere to be found!"_

_Kol nagged and Caroline giggled._

_They were sprawled on the ground and looked at the abyss that was covering the absence of the sky. _

_Kol was telling her stories from when he was a kid. Proof she would need once if his brothers opposed her. Just in case she would need to convince them about her honesty._

_But it was more than that. He was finally opening up to her. It was something he needed. Something he would never admit he needed. Something both of them needed._

"_Well at least that was before she turned into the strumpet brat of an Original you've met and could compel people doing those things for her," he quipped and Caroline grimaced as she remembered how Rebekah used to compel everyone at the committees._

_They remained silent for a while and her old insecurities and memories came back. The world she was remembering, her committees and the dances she organized seemed so far away. Unreachable. _

_Would she ever find her way back there?_

"_What if I don't make it?" she whispered._

"_You will. You are stronger now," Kol encouraged her and his palm covered hers._

_Caroline turned her head and looked at him. She nodded and he responded with a similar nod. She had to make it. They had no other options left._

"_What about Elijah? What would convince him?" she asked and Kol's eyes changed. Something akin to pain simmered in them._

"_Ah…Elijah…"_

_..._

As she was about to tell more to Klaus, Elijah and a woman approached them.

Caroline tried to stand up but she felt as if she could barely move.

Klaus came near her and helped her stand. She looked at him with gratitude as he wrapped his hand around her waist and supported her. She rested her head on his shoulder and her eyes thanked him.

He believed her. She could see that he believed her.

Elijah and the woman that Caroline suspected that was a witch came near them.

"Brother, Miss Forbes, this is Mrs. Synnove Julien. I already explained to her the nature of our problem she has agreed to help us," Elijah informed them as the witch next to him stood still, her eyes roving all over Caroline's form.

Caroline looked at the witch carefully. There was something inside those green eyes that she did not trust. Her time in purgatory had taught her some things. One of those was to sense danger. And that witch was as if she had a huge neon sign that flashed on and off signals of danger.

Synnove took a step forward and turned her eyes to Klaus.

"Do you have anything that belonged to the girl?" the woman asked and Klaus nodded.

He then took out of his pocket the eternity bracelet he had once given her and Caroline felt her heart beating faster. The last time she had seen it was at his family's ball in Mystic Falls when she had thrown it back at him in anger.

He carried it with him?

Klaus gave the bracelet to the witch and Synnove held it in her palm and closed her eyes for some moments.

When she opened them again she shook her head negatively.

"There is no personal imprint on it. Are you sure this belonged to your Caroline?" she asked and at that Caroline pushed herself away from Klaus's embrace and even though she could barely stand she forced herself to stay on her feet without wavering.

"I am not _his _Caroline but yes Klaus had given me that bracelet some years ago. As a birthday gift," she said and Klaus smiled at that.

Elijah seemed to be observing their interaction closely.

"It must not have stayed in your possession for long then," the witch skeptically said and Caroline nodded.

"I had it...returned back to sender," she said and rolled her eyes at Klaus' smirk.

"That is one way to put it," Klaus said and came closer, "what is the problem?" he impatiently asked Synnove.

"I cannot use the bracelet. I need something that belonged to Caroline longer. Something that contains her aura. That is the only way I can identify if the girl standing in front of you is indeed Caroline Forbes," Synnove said and Caroline huffed.

"For God's sake it is me!" she angrily said.

"I am afraid I cannot confirm this," the witch insisted.

Caroline glared at her and tiredly ran her hand over her hair desperately.

"I am sorry but I do not have the time to get to Mystic Falls to bring you my teddy bear right now!" she protested and saw the witch's eyes widening.

"What is the matter?" Elijah asked and Klaus's eyes sharper than ever followed the witch closely.

Synnove lost all color from her face when she noticed Caroline's arm. Kol's soul was casting bright glows under her thin skin.

The witch approached her but as she was ready to touch her Klaus flashed next to Synnove and grabbed the witch's hand in midair before she was able to grab Caroline's arm.

Synnove glared at Klaus when Elijah intervened.

"Brother maybe it would be best if Mrs. Julien were to check Miss Forbes's hand," he calmly said but Klaus did not let go of Synnove's arm. Obviously he did not trust her either.

Caroline stumbled forward and touched Klaus' shoulder.

"It is okay," she said to him and Klaus cast a warning glare to the witch before her let go of her hand and took a protective step closer to Caroline.

Caroline extended her hand forward and Synnove's fingers lingered above the glowing moving flesh but did not dare to touch it.

"What are you?" the woman observed Caroline with fear.

The witch shook her head with terror.

"What have you done?" she asked Caroline, "this is not possible," she breathed and then took a step back.

Synnove looked at Elijah looking petrified.

"I have to leave, I can't stay here," she whispered fearfully and Caroline blinked surprised at the way the witch seemed to cower in front of her.

Elijah cleared his throat and his gaze inspected Caroline up and down. Klaus remained silent. Deadly silent.

As the witch tried to leave Elijah stepped in front of her.

"Please Mrs. Julien. I can personally guarantee your safety, if you could just-"

Synnove shook her head once more and pointed an accusing finger towards Caroline.

"Her presence alone defies nature, I can't stand in front of her," she shrieked.

"If she is carrying my brother's soul-" Elijah tried once more.

"She is an abomination!" the witch accused with hatred and Caroline flinched as Klaus protectively towered over her casting a deadly glare over the witch "she is the bringer of death. More so than a common vampire," Synnove divulged and both Klaus and Elijah looked at each other surprised before they stared at Caroline that seemed to be as alarmed as them.

"This is not the answer we are looking for!" Klaus growled and took a menacing step towards the witch.

Caroline tried to stop him but she felt so weak. This time it was Elijah that supported her.

"I have no answers for…_you!_" the witch's voice rose in anger as she looked at Klaus with disgust.

Klaus sped in front of Synnove and grabbed the witch by the neck.

"Then you die!" he bellowed and squeezed her neck more while lifting her up. Synnove choked but then she squinted her eyes and the next thing Caroline could see was Klaus falling on his knees screaming and holding his head.

His nose started bleeding and he tried to reach for the witch but she raised her hand and Klaus fell backwards crumbling in what seemed to be excruciating pain.

Caroline tried to move and help him but then her head started throbbing. The witch was also focusing on her. She screamed in pain and Elijah's hands stopped supporting her and she felt to the ground just like Klaus.

Her head felt as if it is going to explode. An unfamiliar pain she hadn't felt before. Not even when she died. She looked at Klaus and realized that the witch's powers were vast since she had been able to take down even him.

Time had stilled for her but in reality everything had happened in a matter of seconds. Before she could even yell for the witch to stop Elijah had grabbed a dagger and was now pressing it against Synnove's throat.

Caroline leaned forward noticing droplets of her blood falling from her nose down to the dirt. Blood was pouring out of her ears too. This was too much. She was already barely holding on. She was dying. Again. She could feel it.

"No," Caroline whispered terrified and fell to the ground but before she hit the floor two strong hands held her.

The witch had released Klaus from her magic and he was now holding her next to his chest.

"Stay with me Caroline," Klaus whispered and she saw fear in his eyes. She tried to speak but the pain on her hand was increasing.

Klaus was caressing her hair, trying in vain to take some of her pain away.

"Not again, I don't want to die," she moaned in pain, tears tracing her cheeks.

"You won't, I won't let you!" Klaus promised her; it seemed as if his voice was fading away.

Her head was about to burst open and her insides felt as if they were in fire.

"KILL HER!" Klaus screamed to Elijah while refusing to let go of Caroline. Elijah pressed the dagger more into the witch's throat telling to stop and Synnove's powers seemed to be decreasing a bit.

Everything seemed distant now.

Klaus bit down on his arm and tried to feed Caroline his blood but even in her pain Caroline refused to drink.

"Drink Caroline!" Klaus ordered her and tried to force her but Caroline shook her head.

"I can't," she cried, "Kol's soul…I can't fail him, I ca-n't dr i nk blo-od b-efore I…I…_he_ will…die..again," she tried to speak clearly but her voice sounded like a broken record in her ears.

"I can take you down," the witch threatened Elijah when blood started dripping from her throat's wound.

"You are in the presence of two Originals, you can't take both of us out without losing your life," Elijah threatened her and Synnove lowered her hand completely in defeat.

Caroline breathed in more. The pain in her head was going away. But she didn't have much time.

"She is useless," Klaus yelled and gently placed Caroline to the floor before standing up.

He was about to kill the witch when Caroline's voice echoed in the basement. Weak but clear.

She tried to crawl on the floor and Klaus sped back to her and held her close, lifting her upper body up.

"Please! I mean no harm I swear," she tried to reason with the witch, "is there no way for you to tell them that the soul belongs to their brother? There has to be a way! They have to help me and you can help them understand that what I am saying is the truth. Please!" she begged Synnove and tried to get up.

"Stay away from me," the witch said refusing to help Caroline.

Elijah lowered the blade but stepped in between Synnove and Caroline. Klaus held Caroline closer.

"This is getting us nowhere," Elijah said with a cold voice.

"_Elijah_," Klaus called him in fear.

Caroline coughed blood and she doubled over in pain in Klaus's hands. That seemed to cause a new terror to Klaus that after a long time he begged Elijah to help him.

Elijah looked at him astonished. Klaus hadn't asked him for help in that way in ages. The last time he had they were human.

He then realized that Klaus seemed vulnerable. He didn't even care for the witch that had just crossed them. He only cared for…Caroline. Elijah looked at the way his brother looked at the dying girl in his arms. It was as if his brother truly…_cared_.

"Let her die!" the witch screamed and Elijah grabbed her by her upper arm, his eyes warning her to remain quiet.

"Lower the barrier NOW!" Klaus commanded the witch as he picked up Caroline from the floor. He pressed Caroline's body over his own and her head rolled over his shoulder.

"You obviously have the power to take me down so you have the power to take down that cursed barrier. Do it now!" he yelled at the red head witch.

"Niklaus-" Elijah tried to intervene but Klaus's eyes turned to amber, his fangs dropping.

"If you want to leave this place alive you will drop the barrier now!" he shouted, his attentions back to the witch.

"This is not wise Niklaus, we can't be sure about this," Elijah insisted.

"Listen to your brother!" the witch advised.

"You will obey me!" Klaus roared ready to attack them. Caroline's hand weakly reached over his heart and he stopped. He looked at her surprised and concerned, his eyes turning back to blue.

Caroline turned her head and looked straight at Elijah. Her mouth was stained with blood. Her eyes glowing with pain. She could barely breath how much more speak.

"A long time ago Kol had climbed on a tree, he remained there hidden for hours so to avoid his chores and when you searched for him he jumped at you. You tripped over, fell and broke your hand. You said to your father that it was you up to the tree and you fell on your own and broke your hand. You did it because you didn't want Mikael to punish him and after that Kol was actually so sorry that he tried to do your chores until you healed but even with a broken arm you wouldn't let him," Caroline breathlessly whispered and Elijah let go of the witch and took a step back as if he was electrocuted.

No one knew of that story. Not even Niklaus.

Kol was too embarrassed and afraid to say it to anyone when he was a kid and it became their secret.

Back then Mikael would not have only punished Kol but also Klaus since Niklaus was the one that was supposed to guard Kol and make sure he behaved. A task impossible.

If back then their father had learnt about what had truly happened he would have probably targeted most of his wrath at Klaus as always. He and Kol had sworn to never tell this to Klaus because they did not want their brother to feel obligated to them for something that was not even his fault or responsibility.

It was one of the few times that Kol had acted responsible and never rubbed what happened to Klaus' face. Not even in order to spite him. Not ever.

Caroline could see that Elijah was shaken up about it and even though she clearly hadn't gained his complete trust she could see in his eyes the hope mixed with the doubt.

Elijah turned to Synnove, his eyes turning to ice.

"Do as my brother commands," he ordered her but Synnove seemed indecisive.

"This is a mistake," she tried to convince the eldest Mikaelson.

"Lower the barrier and you have my word you won't be harmed, otherwise my blade with be the one that takes your life, that I vow to you," he relentlessly told her the dagger's blade, already tainted with her blood, shining in his grip.

Synnove placed her hand on the wound of her neck and breathed in deeply.

"You have no idea what you are doing," she threatened them but nonetheless she focused her magic towards the magical barrier.

* * *

The wind blew around them even though the crypt under the compound had no windows or openings for the air to rise.

Synnove seemed to concentrate hard and when she opened her eyes again she looked straight at Caroline.

Her gaze was eerie, void of any emotion, and Caroline felt as if she was suffocating. Klaus was still holding her in his arms and she turned her head to the side. The top of her head was brushing against his shirt and for the first time in a very long time she felt warmth again. His body heat was caressing her skin. She had forgotten how warmth felt like. She wanted to snuggle in his arms, close her eyes and sleep but she knew she couldn't. Her life was ebbing away. She could not close her eyes.

And yet even like that that witch's gaze seemed to be sending waves of coldness straight at her.

Synnove turned towards Elijah.

"It is done," she said and sounded exhausted. Elijah simply nodded scrutinizing the witch with his eyes.

"This better not be a trick witch," Klaus threatened with a low voice and walked past the point where the barrier used to be.

Caroline could barely hear Synnove's and Elijah's voices as Klaus carried her deeper into the crypt.

The humidity in the air made the hair on the back of her neck rise.

Klaus stepped down some stairs made of slippery rock and then she noticed that they entered a dark place that looked more like a cave.

Deep into the cave there had three coffins. In between there was a door with iron bars and a padlock.

Klaus broke the lock with his hand without letting her go of his arms and pushed the iron door with his leg open.

"Which one is Kol's?" she asked him with a weak voice as they got in but Klaus didn't speak.

"Please, I don't have much time," she pled, hating the fact that she had to beg, and Klaus walked towards the coffin in the far right side.

He allowed her to stand on her feet and for a moment she grabbed his sleeve in order to maintain her balance.

Klaus hand supported her and held her from her waist; she swayed a bit but stood her ground. She had to. She could do this. She had come too far in order to quit now. She carefully detached herself from Klaus and felt his eyes boring into hers.

"Are you sure for this brother?" Elijah's voice reached her ears and she then realized that Elijah had followed them.

Back in purgatory she had reached a point where she was able to sense whenever anyone or anything approached her. But now she was too tired it seemed. That and Klaus's presence was messing with her head.

"Yes," Klaus answered looking straight at Caroline. He was placing his trust on her and she couldn't help but feel gratitude.

Klaus was not one to trust anyone. She knew that all too well. And yet here he was. Helping her. Choosing to believe in her.

How contradictory and ironic was that? After her penance in that hell hole it seemed that she had lost her faith and the only person that now placed his faith on her was Klaus. The man that trusted no one. A few years ago she would be the one to teach him how to trust. Now he was teaching her.

Caroline weakly smiled and Klaus melancholically smiled back.

"What do you need?" he asked her and he opened the coffin's lid revealing a gruesome sight.

Kol's body was a burned black almost shapeless mass. A huge chunk of charcoal and of rotten crisped flesh. His features had all blended into decayed burnt tissue. If she was human she would have probably threw up, screamed or fainted by now. Maybe all the above. But she was not human. She was a vampire and a tormented soul that had spent endless days in purgatory. She had a feeling that nothing could scare her anymore but deep inside this image was causing a wave of pain to rise in her heart and made her eyes fill with unshed tears.

This was Kol. Her ally, her mentor. The man that saved her countless time when they were stuck in hell and taught her how to fight back.

Her constant irritating pain in the ass.

She breathed deeply remembering how some years ago she had seen his burnt corpse with distaste and had tried to cover it up and to get rid of it when it was lying down on Elena's floor as if it was nothing more than garbage. The smell that was coming out of the coffin was horrible but she ignored it.

She sighed and swallowed her tears. She looked at Klaus and shook her head.

"I have everything I need right here," she said and leaned over the coffin. She held on to it because her legs were shaking badly.

"Step back, both of you," she told Klaus and Elijah.

Klaus went near Elijah, both of them keeping their distance. She could feel Elijah's eyes following her every move.

Her eyes changed. Black veins appeared above her cheeks and blood filled her orbs.

"Okay Kol, let's do this," she grunted as her fangs descended.

She harshly bit her glowing arm, tearing the skin.

She turned her arm over letting it hover over Kol's corpse.

"Anime… corpore iure… corpus totum… _resurget_," she chanted the words she had memorized by heart.

She could hear Elijah's and Klaus's breaths quickening behind her but paid no attention. The pain in her hand multiplied. The world seemed to be moving underneath her feet but she refused to fall over.

Caroline kept uttering the spell again and again.

From the cut on her hand instead of blood a golden fluid started pouring down. It looked like sparkling lava had replaced her blood and was now dripping over Kol's chest and slowly moving towards his burnt heart the white oak had ravaged.

Both Mikaelsons brothers behind her were observing the scene astonished. Caroline's arm seemed to be wrapped inside a bright light. Sparks of energy and rays of lightning were creating intricate paths all over her flesh as more blood mixed with that weird golden liquid was trickling down from her arm.

Caroline was groaning in pain but refused to remove her arm from its place.

"Come on!" she whispered, "we made it so far! Come on!" she urged and the light around her hand got brighter.

Mystical vibes seemed to be vibrating all around her. Blood started pouring down her nose again. She coughed blood and almost choke on it.

"Anime corpora iure corpus totum resurget!" she recited louder, her voice stronger, her mind concentrated on her task, her will defeating the pain.

Klaus tried to go near her but Elijah held him in place. This magic seemed impossible.

In an entire millennia none of them had encountered anything similar before.

The light from Caroline's hand was casting bright glows inside the darkness and had encircled the coffin. Kol's body seemed to be absorbing all the energy that was coming out Caroline's body.

The coffin then shook, the wood cracked and with a scream Caroline fell down. She gripped her hand tightly, red blood staining her fingers now.

Klaus immediately went next to her, kneeling down. Her hair was covering her face. Her hand seemed to not be healing fast but there was no glow in it anymore. Blood had stopped coming out of her nose and mouth.

Darkness and silence prevailed all around them again.

"Are you okay Caroline?" he asked her concerned and she nodded. He helped her get up, as she tried to wipe the blood from her face with the back of her hand, and then his whole body stilled.

The coffin was empty.

Elijah came near them holding his breath. Kol's body had disappeared. He was about to speak when he noticed Niklaus's eyes. Klaus was starting at something and he seemed to be frozen. It was as if Klaus was gazing upon the devil himself. Elijah was about to turn around when a voice reached his ears and his whole body stiffened.

That voice. It was familiar.

"_Greetings from the dead."_

* * *

**A/N:** So I am not watching The Originals this year and for a long time I had lost my inspiration because originally I used to love that show as an idea and I had great hopes for it but it deeply disappointed me.

So now every new character and plot device is mine to use in any way I want. The beauty of fanfiction right?

I know I haven't updated for some time now so I made this new chapter extra long.

The _"anime corpore iure corpus totum resurget" _phrase is taken from Supernatural's episode 8x01.

I have no beta so forgive any mistakes.


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